To produce different types of plastic containers, in particular also containers that resemble ampules for pharmaceuticals, reagents, or the like, in an efficient and economical manner, the prior art uses to advantage apparatus that work according to the well-known Bottelpack® process.
These apparatus enable the desired container shape to be expanded from the plastic material extruded into a mold by blow molding or by vacuum molding. If desired, the container can be filled in the mold. Since no handling outside the mold is necessary between the molding process of the container and its filling, the requirements for cleanliness and/or sterilization of the filling can be reliably fulfilled.
When the finished containers are used at a later date, for example, in the field of pharmaceuticals and medicine, the filling is usually extracted through the bottom of the container, for example, by inserting a canula or by tearing open a bottom area. To ensure a fail-safe extraction of the container content, the prior art performs a calibration at the bottom area relevant for the extraction process. Document DE 30 05 931 A1 discloses an apparatus of the type described in the foregoing. For this purpose, the prior art apparatus has movable calibrating mandrels that can be moved coaxially in relation to one another from both sides of the container bottom of the container and that is located in the mold. In a shaping position, the mandrels calibrate the bottom area between their mandrel ends in such a way that a bottom-side wall region of defined shape and wall thickness is formed as a diaphragm. The excess plastic material, produced during the shaping process, is severed from the mold components, assigned to the bottom region, by a severing device, provided in the prior art apparatus to end the production process of the bottom region.